The net's 'dark fibre'

Celeste Biever reports on the threat to net neutrality posed by big telecoms companies (24 June, p 30). The one thing missing from the report was the issue of "dark fibre".

I think it is fair to say that most telecoms companies use fibre-optic cable these days rather than copper cable, and when they lay such cable, they frequently lay far more than they need because it occupies so much less space and because they always have an eye on the future. Such unused fibre is known as "dark" in the industry.

Some industry analysts estimate that up to 95 per cent of the fibre in place now is "dark", meaning that the telecoms companies have 20 times as much capacity as they actually use. So why, I find myself wondering, are we being told that the internet is "creaking" under the load?

To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

To continue reading this article, log in or subscribe to New Scientist

App + web

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$25.99 - Save 65%

12 issues for $2.17 per issue

with continuous service

Print + web

Print

Web

$28.99 - Save 61%

12 issues for $2.42 per issue

with continuous service

Print + app + web

Print

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$39.99 - Save 73%

12 issues for $3.33 per issue

with continuous service

Web

Web only

$49.99

30 day web pass

Prices may vary according to delivery country and associated local taxes.